Drawing on a selection of outstanding panels and complete cassoni—elaborately decorated wedding chests—together with textiles, majolica ware, paintings and other domestic items, this exhibition explores and illustrates life, love, and marriage in Renaissance Florence.
During the Italian Renaissance, cassoni were an important part of marriage rituals and were among the most prestigious furnishings in the house or palace of a new couple. Serving as status symbols, they demonstrated the family’s wealth and position in society. Cassoni were often conspicuously paraded through the streets from the bride’s family home to her husband’s home as a clear statement of a new economic and political alliance between elite families. The stories and imagery selected to decorate the chests tell us much about Renaissance life and society.
Programming & Financial Support
This exhibition was organized by Museo Stibbert and Contemporanea Progetti, and is supported by the Mildred L. Stolberg Fund, and a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Gallery talks:
September 27, 6 p.m., Lauren Surovi, Department of Italian
October 10, 12 p.m., Leonora Neville, Department of History
Date TBD, Walton O. Schalick, III, MD, PhD
Tours with curator Maria Saffiotti Dale:
September 6, 12:30 p.m.
September 16, 2 p.m.
October 21, 2 p.m.
November 1, 12:30 p.m.
November 4, 2 p.m.